[How does the quality of life of long-term hospitalized psychiatric patients change after their discharge into the community?].

Abstract

In the Berlin deinstitutionalisation study, quality of life in 134 long-term hospitalised psychiatric patients was examined twice: Discharged patients were interviewed again one year after their return to the community, whereas patients who continued to be hospitalised were reinterviewed after 1(1/2)-2 years after the first interview. Quality of life was assessed by the Berlin Quality of Life Profile. Four groups were distinguished in the analysis: 1. patients who continued as inpatients in the same hospital, 2. patients who had been referred to other hospitals, 3. patients who had been discharged after less than one year of continuous inpatient care, and 4. patients discharged after more then one year of hospital care. The four groups differed significantly in several sociodemographic and illness-related variables. Regarding the objective quality of life data, the four groups differed significantly in respect of the spheres leisure, social contacts and safety at follow-up. Discharged patients had more leisure activities, more often a "good friend", and more frequent social contacts within the last week. They had been less often victim to a crime. In a cross-sectional analysis, the four groups showed significant differences regarding subjective quality of life in the spheres accommodation and safety. In a longitudinal analysis, no group showed any significant negative changes. Positive changes were found in the group of patients formerly hospitalised for more than a year most often: satisfaction with leisure activities, with the financial situation, and with accommodation improved significantly during the follow-up period. Results show a marked and significant improvement in the objective and subjective quality of life indicators in formerly long-term hospitalised patients after discharge.